


Icarus Was Smiling

by Agent_Up



Category: MCU, Marvel
Genre: Fluff, I wanna fight the Rougues, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Multi, Not A Fix-It, Peter Parker is a Good Bro, Spider Son and Iron Dad, Team Iron Man, The Rogues come back, This is gonna suck let’s go, Threats, Will tag warnings as I go, a good boi, also, beter barker, but threats, johnnys cute too, not good writing, not team Cap friendly, scott is an idiot but kinda not?, thats my strategy, to make you leave kudos, very fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-09-06 21:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16840948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent_Up/pseuds/Agent_Up
Summary: The Rogues return from Wakanada. (Truth)They want back in the compound. (Truth)It’s going really great. (Lie)——————————————————————“Boss, it appears you have visitors.”“Um, I’m not expecting anyone. Who is it?”“The old Avengers, boss.”-Ok, Deep Breaths. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.-“All right Fri, send ‘em up.”——————————————————————NOW WITH AN AGRESSIVE MARKETING TECHNIQUE





	1. Begone Thots

“Boss, it appears you have visitors.”

“Um, I’m not expecting anyone. Who is it?”

“The old Avengers, boss.” 

Tony choked on his coffee and yelped, “What?! Why are they here? They're criminals!”

“It appears they are not, boss. The got pardoned four days ago by the Accords Committee.” There was a beat of silence as Tony drew into himself. 

_ Holy Fucking Shit. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Why are they even here? _

_ Ok, Deep Breaths. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.  _

“All right Fri, send ‘em up.”

————————-

“I’m not sure he’ll be happy to see us, Cap.” There was a slight jolt as the elevator containing the Rogues started upwards. Bucky and Scott shot nervous glances at each other, they were thinking exactly what Natasha had said. Sam, standing beside them, looked equally as worried, nervously awaiting Stark’s reaction. 

“Nat, relax. It’ll be fine. I’m sure he was practically dying waiting for us to return.” Steve’s chuckle did little to calm the tense atmosphere that enveloped the Rogue Avengers during the short ride up to Tony. When the elevator stopped at the 63rd floor.

”Why are we stopping at Clint’s floor?” Natasha wondered aloud.

“Please exit the elevator. You may place you bags in the hallway and enter the office. Refrain from going elsewhere for now.” Came Friday's voice over the intercom. The team did as they were told, (a rare occurrence) and entered the office where they found Tony hard at work. The engineer looked up abruptly.

“What are you doing here?” 

The question is hard, sharp. Steve winces at the defensive tone in Stark’s voice. “We came home, Tony.” His lopsided smile meets cold, unflinching eyes. Only Natasha (Trained spy), Clint (Also spy), and Wanda (Mind reader) knew he was feeling afraid. 

“Yeah, no. This isn’t your home. I received no word that you were coming, not that that would have changed anything, also, did you even  _ sign _ the accords?”

“Of course we did. Got pardoned and everything, no thanks to you, Stark.” Clint snapped, not liking the doubt that filtered through Tony’s voice. “So, what have you done to my floor?”

“ _ Your floor _ has been renovated into my main office, it was time for an upgrade anyway.”

Steve frowned at this; where was Clint supposed to stay? When he voiced his concern Tony gave him a pitying glance, as if he wasn’t getting something. “You don’t get what I’m saying do you Rogers?  _ You guys don’t live here _ . This is not your home, okay? So here’s what’s going to happen; you are going to leave and not come back until there is an arrangement set up via the Accords Council because that’s the only reason I’m going to interact with any of you.”

Wanda scoffed, “Really? You really haven’t changed at all, Stark. Is your ego still clouding your judgement? I’m surprised you can fit through that door given how big you head is.”

“Wow, that insult was so lame. That’s the best you could come up with? It’s almost like you haven’t had a high school education. Oh wait.” Wanda and Clint both had to be held back as they started towards Tony. They were both rewarded when Tony took a panicked step backwards. “Yeah that’s enough of that. FRIDAY? Light of my life, please direct Rodgers and his crew out. Oh, except you, Mr Lang, I have a message for you.”

“Anything you want to say to him, you can say in front of the rest of us.” Clint hissed at the billionaire. Beside him, Steve nodded and crossed his arms. 

“Well, considering this message is from Ms Van Dyne, is that a sentiment you share, Mr Lang?” Tony had decided to give Lang a chance based on Hope’s description of him.  “Uh, I think I would rather hear this in private, I’ll be fine guys, just wait outside please.” The Rogues angrily filed out of the room, a few throwing glances at Tony, and Steve giving him a hopeful smile, one he did not return. 

Once they had all left Tony broke the silence, “Hi, I believe we were never formally introduced. I’m Tony.” Most of his hostile body language melted away, leaving only his (justified) unease showing.

“Uh, Scott.”

”So, Scott, I have some stuff to go over with you. Hope, though I have no idea why, has pleaded your case. Did you read the accords before you went to fight with Rogers?” A shake of the head was all the confirmation Tony needed to continue, “Well that’s awkward. So, on those grounds Hope has been pushing for a lighter sentence for you. Tonight you will stay at Hank Pym’s house, courtesy of Pym himself. When you are there, I believe she has lots to go over with you, but I think the gist is custody of the suit, and your daughter. That’s it, as far as I’m concerned, you’re free to go.”

”Wow, thank you Tony, thanks so much! I, uh- yeah.” And with at, the man awkwardly stumbled out of the room, to busy thinking about Cassie and Hope to notice the fond smile Tony was giving him. He didn’t really have anything against Scott, and knew, based on Hope’s stories, he’d just been swept up in the legend that was Captain America. Scott met up with the rest of the Rogues outside the room, and smiled a greeting, telling them nothing about the conversation.

Steve watched Scott come out of the room, and just as the others began to grill him for details he pushed open the door and slipped back inside Tony’s office.

“Hi Tony.”

“Shit! Rodgers! You scared me! What do you want?”

Steve’s face became pinched as Tony drew away from him. “I want to talk to you. Let you know we forgive you, for everything.” His smile grew hesitantly as he talked.

“What the  _ fuck, _ Steve.” Steve’s smile blinked out, leaving confusion and anger clouding his eyes. Tony ran a hand through his messy hair. “First of all, I don’t want to talk to you, hence my dismissal of you. Second,  _ you _ forgive  _ me _ ? Do you know how fucked up that is. Honestly, I’m not even going to touch that statement, that’s how dumb it was.”

”Tony if you would just listen-“

“No, you listen. I am done. I spent four years living with you all, breaking my back for you, being your goddamn  _ slave _ and I am done. You need to leave. FRIDAY,” he barked, making Steve wince, breaking his condescending fassade and showing the rage underneath, “get them out of here please.”

“Initiating Protocol  _ Begone, Thot. _ ”

“PARKER WHAT THE FUCK!” Panels in the wall cleanly slid to the side to reveal some menacing looking guns. The guns were sleek, stark design from before Iron Man, and piloted by FRIDAY. Rodgers paled and began to back out of the room, looking almost pitying at Tony, as if it was  _ Tony  _ who wasn’t understanding something.

“We’ll be back, and everything can go back to normal. You’ll see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos or ill fill your bladder with mayonnaise  
> (This is an aggressive marketing technique)(And i will follow through)  
> 


	2. Yeehaw

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been updated FYI

“So, apparently the Rogues are back.”

“The asshole rogues?”

“Do you happen to know any  _ other _ rogues?”

“Well maybe I do, you don’t know that.”

Peter smiled and plopped down on the overstuffed sofa into his boyfriend’s lap. Johnny immediately slid an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer. They were watching Dog Cops and eating pizza in the Peter’s room at the compound. It was one of the rare Friday nights where they didn’t have to go out. Matt Murdock had agreed to take over for a night with Vision so that the two could have a quiet night in.

“So, apparently Rogers and his crew just  _ showed up _ at the Tower, unannounced.”

“Stark didn’t know they were coming?”

“According to FRIDAY it had been kept hush-hush, so  _ she _ didn’t even know about it until it happened and the receptionist let them in because, well, its  _ Captain America. _ ”

Johnny frowned, “that sucks, Peter, does Tony want me to beat them up? Because we can totally go after them. You and me. Or I can get Sue todo it! She would be good at that. Really scare them.”

“You are not getting The Invisible Woman to beat up some of the Avengers with you.” Peter rolled his eyes and burrowed deeper into his boyfriend’s embrace. Johnny planted a kiss to the top of Peter’s head and mumbled something.

“Hey,” Johnny frowned, “How did they get the pardons past FRIDAY?”

“I’m not sure, I guess they kept everything on paper? Or Wakandan encryption?” Peter huffed and turned towards his boyfriend. “I hate them, so, so, very much.”

“I know, Pickled Peppers. If you want, I could probably bribe Reed to make a super laser. We could shoot them into space. That’s the plan.” 

“I’m not sure you should do that, Torchy.”

“Pshaw, Pickled Peppers, I should totally do that.”

The smaller teen smiled and kissed Johnny softly. He mumbled again see his jaw, “maybe save that for a rainy day.”

“Yeehaw!”

“Please never say that again.”

They didn’t move for a while.

~~~~~

“Hope!” Scott’s eyes lit up at the sight of the woman. She was wearing a suit, and had much longer hair than from when he saw her last. What stopped him though, was the look she was giving him. “Hi. Uh, how are you? I’ve missed you. I, uh-“

“Scott.” She greeted him coldly, “ You stole my father’s property. You left without a word to us with said property. You left to go and become an international fugitive.” This was not the welcome home Scott had been expecting. “And that is only the tip of the iceberg. Do you see why I haven’t missed you?”

Scott nodded, dazed.

“Good, so then there won’t be any problems regarding our past relationship then.”

“Uh,” Scott Lang is an articulate man in some moments. This was not one of those moments.

“A simple yes or no will suffice. Do you understand me?”

“Uh, yeah! Yes! I understand.” Scott smiled awkwardly and cleared his throat. The Wasp nodded once and turned on her heel, leading him out of the room. They ended up in a room with grey walls and a window thanking up the majority of one wall. The bed was pushed against the corner and the bedside table was barren. It was an impersonal and cold room, and Scott didn’t particularly like it, but it was bigger than his prison cell, so he still thought it was nice.

“This is where you’ll be staying. In agreement with the Accords you’ll be living in this compound for the next three months. You’ll held with rescue missions and grunt work. I’m not sure how often an interesting mission will come up. Any other information you might need is in this packet.” She gestured to a stack of papers on the bed. Scott sat himself down and began to read through the pages. “Goodbye Mr. Lang.”

The “bye Hope” wasn’t heard over the click of the door.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave nice comments or i’ll turn your arm into a goat


	3. Restrain Those Hoes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK SO FUNNY STORY.  
> I was planning to write this a spideypool. BUT! I was Thinking. So I have something that I need Peter to do and I had it planned out and I’m so excited to write that bit but. For it to work. I need Peter to be younger for it to work and since pedophilia is Not Allowed I figured it would just be easier to turn it into SpideyTorch! Yay!  
> SO what that means is the storyline doesn’t change, but the last chapter did. (Not a lot but some) so you can reread the last chapter if you want. No pressure. (Some pressure). (A lot pressure).  
> Ok bye!!  
> 💜 Agent

“I just had the worst fucking day.” Tony sighed and dropped himself unceremoniously down onto the sofa in the common room in the compound. The only other people in the room were Peter and Stephen Strange. They had both recently moved into the compound, Peter after Aunt May died in a car accident, about a year ago, and Stephen only recently when he joined the Avengers.

“What happened?” Stephen asked, amusement showing through his concern. He got ups form the kitchen table where he and Peter had been working to join Tony on the living room sofa.

“Rogers and his crew happened.”

Peter looked uncomfortable at the mention of the Rogues, “did they try to get into contact with you again? You should get a restraining order of something. Restrain those hoes.” He punctuated his point by slamming his fight down on the table.

“Okay, 1, I you know I don’t understand you when you use teenager slang.”

“That wasn’t even slang.” Peter mumbled.

“And 2, even if I wanted to do that, it would be pointless. Do you really think a restraining order would discourage someone who can literally punch their way through anything?”

Stephen smiled and propped his feet up on the table. “So, what did they do?”

Tony sighed, “They just won't stop calling for me. They think I have the power to solve all of their problems when if they had read the Accords they would know I _don’t!_ They’re all,” he raised the pitch of his voice to imitate the rogues, “‘Tony, get me a bigger room! Tony, make them be nicer to Wanda! Tony, let us move in to the Compound!’ And I can’t fucking handle it!”

Stephen smiled ruefully ands Tony slumped down worth his face buried in one of the pillows. “Why do they think you can do everything?”

It was Peter who answered, rubbing a hand over his face, “Because they think Tony is the cause of all their problems, ipso facto, they think he can fix all their problems.”

Without looking up, Tony pointed at Peter, “Kid’s right.”

“So how do we stop that?”

Tony looked up from his pillow, “we?!”

“Of course, they’re my problem too and I want to help you.” Then, more tentatively, “Is ‘we’ ok?” Tony smiled and whispered,

“‘We’ would be wonderful.”

They were both looking into each others eyes for some time when the moment was broken. “So, I’ll just, go. Um. Yeah. Bye Dr. Strange, bye Dad.” Peter made to walk out the door before he stopped he realized what he’d said and turned back towards the two men, panicking, “Um, I mean, I don’t, Mr. Stark I’m sorry I can-“

“Pete, you can call me whatever you want.” Tony said with a fond smile. Peter breathed a sigh of relief and asked,

“Can I call you Dad?” He asked hesitantly.

“I would love that.” Peter gave a small smile and practically floated out the door.

Stephen smiled as he watched Tony’s brain _click, click, clicking_ away. Tony paused suddenly and his head snapped toward Stephen, “Do you think I can adopt him now?!”

“You’ll have to ask him first, I’d imagine.”

“Right. Right. Ask him, I can do that. Oh my god. He called me Dad! He thinks of me as his father figure. Wait. What if this is bad, Stephen. What if I let him down. I couldn't handle that.” Tony was working up speed as Stephen put a hand over his.

“I really think you won’t let him down, Tony. Also, I know you, and you’re going to get worked up about this. Why don’t we watch a movie and you can not worry about it?”

Tony nodded and Friday dimmed the lights and on the large TV Sherlock (the BBC version) began to play. Tony wasn’t fully paying attention though, as he said to Stephen, “I’m just worried abound the Rogues. And scared. Worried and scared. Wared. Scorried.”

“Afraid or Distraught are the words you’re looking for.”

Tony smiled and leaned into the couch ~~and~~ ~~closer~~ ~~to~~ ~~Stephen~~. He turned to the TV to distract himself from his ~~crush~~ friend. “Sherlock’s hot.”

Stephen smiled, “Watson’s hotter.”

“Ew, he looks like Ross.”

“What? No way. Ross is way older and doesn’t look like him at all.”

“No, Everett Ross.”

“Oh true.”

“So you think Everett’s hot, then?” Tony grinned sleepily at Stephen.

“I would like to retract my statement.” He mumbled as the tips of his ears began to turn red with blush. Later Tony asked Friday to order some Chinese takeout. He was asleep on Stephen’s shoulder before it arrived.

  
~~~~~  


Natasha was sitting on the unslept in bed in her ~~cell~~ room at the UN building in New York. She was staring at the wall, just thinking.  
_I really screwed up._  
_How did it go wrong so quickly?_  
_I underestimated Stark._ _  
_ We all did.

She sighed and thought back to her time at the red room. Her instructor would never had made the mistakes she had. Natasha could hear her voice.  
‘Natasha.’ She would bark, ‘what was that? You know Stark. You know how he thinks, yet you failed to anticipate his actions and you lost because of it.’  
She’d get punished for this; a miscalculation of this degree. She’d lost everything because she was blind sighted by the chance of freedom. She’d been swept up in Captain America’s blinding smile. She knew Stark. She knew not to underestimate him. But she did anyway. She knew that if he wanted her dead, she would be dead, and that was an unacceptable fact for her to overlook.  
_He could have won without any of us knowing. He could have struck us without us being ready_  
_We could all be dead, in prison, in labs._  
_But we’re not._ _  
_ And I don’t know why.

With a sigh, Natasha shook her head; it didn’t make sense. Why would Tony play this game and _choose_ to fail? She vowed to find out. Because she couldn’t bear not knowing.  
She was a super spy, after all.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos or I’ll schlorp your toes


	4. Scnak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it! 
> 
> \- 💜

Steve sighed as his duffle bag hit the floor. He stood for a moment to take in a deep breath, and his new surroundings. The dingy room smelt of oranges and chemical air freshener. The bed was pushed up against a window that overlooked an identical building across the road from the one he was currently in. They had assured him that this was temporary, that this was only to be his home for a month at most. A month had never felt longer to Steve Rogers.  
He began to unpack, methodically putting his clothes into the cramped dresser that looked like it was added to the room as an afterthought, and placed his toothbrush in a glass by the sink in the cramped bathroom. He was in the UN building; his team placed there on “temporary” terms, until they were granted access to the Avengers Compound. But they didn’t have access to the Compound, and Steve knew it was Tony’s fault.  
After fitting all his meagre possessions into the draws of the dresser he got up, grabbed his phone, and left the room. Steve made a few wrong turns, but eventually found himself in the dining hall. He scanned the crowd before his eyes fell upon a shock of red hair and the blonde bob next to her. Making his was over to Wanda and Natasha, he swerved around tables that seemed to have no rhyme or reason to their order.  
“Hi guys, have you been to your rooms yet?” Steve asked as he sat down. Wanda glowered at the mention of her room.  
“It’s so small! I have no room for anything. It’s more like a cell than anything else,” she spat. “You know, if Stark wasn’t so selfish and petty, we would already be at the Compound. We’d have been welcomed back as heroes! It’s all his fault!” Her eyes were beginning to glow a firey red and Steve saw Natasha tense beside her.  
“Right, it’s Stark’s fault. That means he can fix it. If I can just talk to him I might be able to convince him to let us back into the compound.” Wanda looked slightly appeased at that. They made small talk for another twenty minutes until the intern that showed them around came up to their table.  
“Ms Romanoff and Mr Rogers, you’re late for your psych evaluation.” The two exchanged looks; neither of them wanted to go to those. “And Ms Maximoff, you have your physical in ten. You are expected to be there.” And with that, the intern turned away.

~~~~~

“Please take a seat.” The therapist smiled at him through her tortoiseshell glasses and Steve like her immediately. She was a mousy woman with dark, limp hair and was wearing a long blue skirt and green cardigan. “My name is Ava, and I’m going to ask you a few questions. Shall we get started?” She had a faint Aussie accent in her voice. At Steve’s nod, she asked him the first question.  
“How old are you?”  
The question caught Steve off guard; weren’t these supposed to be important questions about how he was feeling? and why he did that thing? and what are you thinking right now?.  
“What?”  
“How old are you?”  
“Aren’t you supposed to ask me, like, deeper questions?”  
“I am. I want to see how old you think you are. Are you 98 or 29?”  
“What does it matter? I’ve never thought about it.”  
She smiled at Steve’s confusion. “Well, you’re young, biologically, but you were born a century ago. I want to see which you identify with.”  
“I guess I’m 29. I feel young.”  
Ava made a note of his answer on the clipboard in her lap, and looked back up at him. “Would you change anything about your life?”  
“I guess I would have tried harder to make Tony see he was wrong. Then we wouldn’t be here.” He said with a weak laugh. Trying, and failing, at some humour.  
“When you’re around the other Avengers, do you feel safe?”  
“Of course.” There was no hesitation in his voice.  
“Why?”  
“Because I know they wouldn’t hurt me.”  
The line of questioning continued for about an hour, until Ava dismissed him. Steve went back to the cafeteria to find all of the Rogues, except Bucky, at the table.  
“Hey guys, how did your evaluations go?” Natasha shrugged. She’d answered everything to appear like a perfectly normal and in control person, but not enough that she would be blamed for the Civil War. So had Clint.  
“I think it went Ok; I had this guy, kinda old. He asked me all the ‘how does that make you feel questions’, so I should be fine.” Sam lowered his voice in imitation of his therapist.  
Wanda shared the sentiment, “They just had me make things fly and explode things. I had to hit a few targets and read someone’s mind. Nothing, really.”  
Steve smiled, “Well, that’s good. We should all pass then.”

~~~~~

They’d been summoned. It was the same intern from before that was standing at the head of the conference table.  
“Ok, here are your assignments. Mr Rogers, Mr Wilson, Mr Barnes, and Ms Maximoff, you’re going to the Compound tomorrow. You’ll be staying in a wing separate it the Avengers, and will be under Colonel Rhodes’ command. Please prepare. Ms Romanoff and Mr Barton, you’re going to S.H.I.E.L.D. at the same time. You’ll be working as agents again until your supervising officer says otherwise.  
The team shared glances; they hadn’t expected to be split up, and when they turned to complain to the intern, he was gone.

~~~~~

**Peter’s phone**

Bitter: Hey! What are you up to right now?  
Hottie: reeds doing something w my heat I have to heat thingss up and cool them down after its p boring  
Hottie: u?  
Bitter: Not much. Wanna watch a movie tonight?  
Hottie: only if its the princess bride  
Bitter: ...  
Bitter: For the third time?  
Hottie: peter,, i could just,, not come,,,,  
Bitter: Fine. But you’re bringing snacks.  
Hottie: i will bring myself for i am a scnak  
Bitter: Scnak.  
Hottie: i stand by it  
Hottie: see u tonite!! ❤️  
Bitter: ❤️❤️❤️

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos or I'll fill your home with Spray Can Cheese.


	5. Monkey Hear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks for reading! Sorry for the hiatus, I really tried to get it together. I tried so hard. I really did. I pinky promise. Actually no I don’t .  
> See, the problem is that I write and plan all the chapter but I do it ON PAPER because I’m SMART. And it just so happens the physically typing it out and editing parts are my least favorite parts. Which is problematic.   
> To make up for it, I should have the next one out soon. I have it mostly written down and all planned out and also! I’m! Really! Excited! About! The! Next! Chapter!  
> Also, sorry about the Wanda part in this one, (you’ll see) b/c it’s really really choppy and I don’t like it. It was important though, so I tried to include the important parts.   
> Let me know what you think!

They traded looks as the bland building came into view. It was definitely a step down from the SHIELD they knew. It was a rectangular, beige, drab, unsuspecting block that drew no eyes. Clint and Natasha knew, in their hearts, that it was a spy organization they worked for, and, in all fairness, this was the perfect place. It’s just that they were so used to the sleek glass building that was SHIELD HQ, or the Helicarrier, or, hell, even Avengers ( _ Stark _ , they reminded themselves) Tower. This felt like a downgrade.

Drawing a breath, Natasha moved forward and heaved the doors open into the deserted lobby. From the inside it still looked like an abandoned office block. In tandem they moved toward the elevator, thinking back to the instructions they’d been given. Punching the button for the second floor, Clint nudged Natasha’s arm. They smiled at each other; not needing words. The doors slid open, revealing a bustling lobby. People were speeding around the room; all looking like they had places to be. TV screens covered most walls, showing news stations, security footage, data and statistics, and the largest on in the center of the back wall showing the SHIELD logo. (That one was connected only to the Director's office, and would only change in a state of emergency.) 

This was the SHIELD they knew.

A young woman with strawberry blonde hair done in waves stopped in front of the two. “My name is Agent Laine; I’m you new handler.” She spoke crisply, “If you’ll follow me, please.” She lead them back into the elevator they had just come out of before addressing to them again, 

“The Director wants to see you.”

The two assassins were ashamed to admit they didn’t actually  _ know _ who the new director was. After the fall of SHIELD (and Fury fucking off to who knows where), they were left with only theories as to who was in charge.

They’d guessed Hill.

They’d guessed wrong.

The three of them got out of the elevator on the 27th floor, which was composed of sprawling open desks with holo-screens floating the space. The only irregularity was a closed off corner office with frosted glass acting as walls. Agent Laine led them over to said office and smartly rapped one knuckle against the door. There was an unintelligible answer of affirmation from the inside and she slipped in without Clint or Natasha being able to get a glimpse inside.

The two waited outside in uncomfortable silence, drawing looks from the surrounding SHIELD employees until the door opened and Laine stepped back out.

“The Director will see you now.”

Clint followed Natasha in and walked right into her as she was stopped in her tracks. Clint stepped sideways with a glance to the spy, then turned to face what had shocked her so much.

The eyes he met belonged to a dead man. 

They had time share the same thought before the yelling (and screaming, and crying) started.

_ Holy. Fucking. Shit. _

~~~~~

Steve smiled for the first time in a while. He was going  _ home. _ To live in the Compound. Granted, he’d never actually lived there, but he’d spent time there and had grown to like it. The car slowed to a stop and he glanced around at everyone; Bucky, Wanda, and Sam were all in the car with him. As they got out there was friendly chatter, but it was overshadowed by excitement and trepidation. They wandered to the back of the vehicle to collect their bags before heading inside. 

No one spared a glance at the driver as they entered the building.

Happy Hogan pulled out his phone and shot a text to Tony as he watched the retreating Rogues.

**Tony’s Phone**

**HipHip:** Incoming

  
  


~~~~~

  
  


**VIDEO TRANSCRIPT - W. MAXIMOFF ASSESSMENT**

**18/6/2018**

**UN BASE - NEW YORK - TRAINING ROOM**

[Security camera footage: a woman (WM), and two men (Jason Labet and Albert Klovoord) stand in the middle of the room. JL wears a lab coat and holds a clipboard.]

**JL** : Good afternoon Ms. Maximoff, how are you today?

**WM** : Fine, thank you.

**JL** : I’ll just cut to the chase. So the way this is going to work is we will go over your physical abilities, and then we’re going to ask you a few questions. Is that all right.

[WM looks uncomfortable. A red glow begins to form around her hands.]

**WM** : Yeah, sure.

**AK** : Ok, first, let’s just do some basic levitation.

**[30 MINS LATER]**

**JL** : All right, that was great! Now, les move on to the psychological portion, shall we?

[WM nods]

**JL** : I think we’ll start with your childhood. Tell me about your parents.

[this line of questioning continues for 8 minutes]

**JL** : And then you joined HYDRA, right?

**WM** : Yes. It was after that.

**JL** : Did you join HYDRA voluntarily?

**WM** : No. I was coerced into joining.

[JL makes a note on his clipboard. This line of questioning continues for 11 mins]

JL: All right, I think that’s it. Thank you Ms. Maximoff; your free to go.

**[END OF TRANSCRIPT]**

~~~~~

Peter was sitting on the roof, playing on his phone in the living room when the window swung open. Before he could react he saw a smoking tuft of blond hair. Peter grinned and made his way across the ceiling silently. As Johnny clambered through the window he scanned the room for his boyfriend. As he opened his mouth to call out for Peter, Johnny heard a shriek come from-  _ where did it come from, because it sounded like that was directly. above. me. Oh crap. _

Peter threw himself off the roof directly onto Johnny’s head. Giggling as Johnny caught him (just barely, mind you) Peter shouter, “To the living room!” 

“Honestly, you’d think that you, of all people, would know better than to scare someone who can light themselves on fire. And often do so when provoked. And you’re not fireproof.” 

The younger boy giggled, “I’m aware of that, but you just don’t have all the facts.”

Deciding to humour him, Johnny feigned innocence, “which are?” Peter’s eyes lit up.

“I love him.”

As they were getting settled to start The Princess Bride; complete with popcorn; both their phones lit up with a text. They met each other's eyes and groaned. Both of them getting a text either meant a group chat, or a mission; they were both hoping for the former.

**Peter’s Phone**

**DareDevil** : Spidey, I found something you might want to see. Bring the human space heater with you; he might prove useful.

**Johnny’s Phone**

**Monkey Hear** : Get down here, I need a human shield.

As Peter and Johnny both shot a text back in the affirmative, they got up to go get ready.

_ This better be worth it _ . They both thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to state for the record the runner ups for Johnny’s contact name for DareDevil we’re as follows:  
> \- Legally Blind  
> \- Devilled Eggs  
> \- Leggo My Eggo  
> \- Monkey See  
> \- Not The Vision (this was my favourite ngl) (but i thought it was mean)
> 
> Leave me a nice comment or I’ll tape you to the ceiling of a public bathroom. Over the stalls. You’ll see e v e r y t h i n g
> 
> \- 💜


End file.
